Monday, July 16, 2007

Day 1: Rome, the Eternal City

Landing and Baggage Transfer to Cruise ShipI landed around 9:00am, Thursday, July 12, 2007 at Italy’s chief main airport, Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport. The airport is located southwest of Rome at a nearby commune of Fiumicino. After going through an immigration check where they stamp your passport, you go directly to the baggage claim area. Once you find your luggage, you’ll need to look for Carnival representatives that will take your luggage to the cruise ship. This is why it is very important that your suit cases are tagged properly, with your name, cabin number and other pertinent information.

Airport Meeting with CarnivalCarnival then moved all of the passengers to a meeting area in the airport, where they assign us specific buses. Most buses go directly to the ship, while you can opt to pay for a longer route, which gives you a quick glance at Rome, the Eternal City.

My tour was run by local guides that not only knew about the area but lived there.

Rome At A GlanceMy first visit to Rome put all the tourist books to shame. The historical richness of Rome simply will astound you. Rome at its height was the richest, the largest, and most powerful city in the known world. And while it no longer has the honor of being the center of the known universe, Rome hasn’t lost its historical and archaeological splendor.

PhotosI’ll be uploading pictures as I get to process them. You can click on the image for a larger version. So far here are some of the pictures from Day 1:

Some streets of Rome are quite narrow.

Cestius had his tomb built like the Egyptian pyramids. Egypt was already a subdued country. The Pyramid of Cestius strangely stands in the middle of Rome since 12 B.C.

The Arch of Constantine was built as a triumphal arch around 315 AD after Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on 312 AD.